Originally Posted by
Inakamono
ADAP7IVE, I looked up the Di2 1x and it looks really cool, but yikes it is expensive. I understand your trepidation. Is it all possible to get a bike that suits your needs with a single speed, and then later replace the bottom bracket with the Di2 1x, or are they mutually exclusive? Something that comes to mind too, and this probably a really stupid idea, but you could attach a homemade shield to the underside of the bottom bracket to protect it from the rain and mud.
Thanks, it really is expensive, and I keep coming back to the obsolescence problem: (even getting past the cost and the risk of being unable to repair on a remote bikepacking trip) if I get a custom Ti frame I want that puppy to last a long time. But getting into electronic drivetrains that require specific frame features, I'm wondering how much the hardware will change over just a few years and potentially require
different frame features. Going traditionally-geared with a SRAM gripshift could work, too, without concerns about requiring an entirely new frame just because the drivetrain isn't supported anymore.
Swapping the BB wouldn't be a big deal, but you're onto something else: I could go with sliding dropouts and run SS now, and if I find it necessary to gear up, that design would accommodate a Rohloff setup later when money allows.
Ideally I'd tour in Japan, then do offroad tours and trail riding back in the States; going SS eliminates ALL the maintenance/failure/obsolescence concerns, but then you get into the issue of managing mountain inclines on long trips. There are people who do it (Alice Drobna who did the Triple Crown offroad tours in the US is one) without issue, so I'm just wondering how much I'm psyching myself out about nothing. After all, I was riding a 2x10 Bianchi last year and barely shifted across three cogs.
Sorry to hijack your thread--it's helpful to talk this out with someone who has more experience with SS than me, and who knows the kind of riding Japan has.